Characters at a Glance
Characters
7,373
Queer & trans, all time
Sexual Orientations
12
Distinct orientations tracked
Gender Identities
22
Distinct identities tracked
Clichés
41
Recurring character quirks
The Headlines
On Air
348
2025 is down from the 2020 peak for characters on air.
- Clichés Queer IRL The top of the 41 clichés is on 24.2% of all characters.
- Most Clichés Frankie Stein Carries 7 clichés at once, more than any other character.
- Gender Cisgender The top of the 22 identities is on 87.2% of all characters.
- Sexuality Homosexual The top of the 12 orientations is on 62.2% of all characters.
- Queer IRL 24.2% 1,786 characters are played by an actor who is queer in real life.
The Cliché Gap
Bury Your Gays
647
Characters written with the Dead cliché.
9% of everything we track.
See these characters
No Cliché
998
Characters written without any cliché at all.
14% of everything we track.
See these characters
The gap
Characters are 0.6 times more likely to be killed off than to escape cliché entirely.
The Casting Gap
Who Plays Queer Characters
Whether the actor behind a queer character is queer in real life, or straight and cisgender.
- Played by queer actors 1,786 · 24%
- Played by straight or cis actors 5,587 · 76%
The gap
Straight or cis actors are cast in queer roles 3.1 times more often than queer actors are.
Top Clichés
41 clichés tracked
- Artist 758
- Criminal 692
- Crime Solver (LEO, Military, PI, Hero, etc) 663
- Dead Queers 647
- Scientifically Inclined 559
Top Sexual Orientations
12 orientations tracked
- Queer 144
- Not Straight 104
- Asexual 54
- Fluid 20
- Questioning 8
Top Gender Identities
22 identities tracked
- Genderfluid 36
- Cisgender (Intersex) 27
- Gender Non-conforming 14
- Unknown 14
- Trans Non-Binary 11
Statistics are updated daily.